Garrett Dutton, better known by his stage name G. Love, always loved the blues and hip-hop, but at first he never dreamed of combining the two styles.

"Hip-hop was the music of my generation. While I was home (I'd be) in my room practicing the blues. When I was with my friends we were skating, writing graffiti and listening to hip-hop," he said in a recent interview. "One day in 1991, when I was 18, I was playing on the street and I started rapping over an old blues riff. That was a real musical epiphany and I knew right away I had stumbled upon something no one else was doing at the time."

With his group, G. Love & Special Sauce, Dutton rose to prominence in the 1990s by combining the emotion of blues with the lyrical rhythm and rhyming of hip-hop. On Wednesday, Nov. 14, G. Love & Special Sauce will perform at the Ridgefield Playhouse. The group's hits include "Ride," "Ain't That Right," "Breakin' Up," "Still Hanging Around," "Cold Beverage," "Missing My Baby" and "Holla!" Opening will be the Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad.

Dutton said the vibe at his band's live shows is energetic and feel good.

"I like to think that the band and the audience share an experience that feels like something between a church revival and the best house party you've ever been to. It's inspired craziness," he said. "As performers we give everything we got all night, every night. It's our job to make people happy. That's a pretty damn good job."